Nuggets close in on playoffs.
Denver wins its fifth consecutive game, keeping its playoff hopes alive.
LOS ANGELES» Will Barton aggressively called for the ball in the left corner midway through the third quarter, hollering at Jamal Murray while jumping up and down.
A couple seconds later, a pass finally found Barton on the wing. And his fourth 3-pointer of the game barely rippled the Staples Center net and extended the Nuggets’ comfortable lead.
Denver’s late-season surge continued Saturday afternoon in Los Angeles — a fifth consecutive win without the down-the-stretch drama of the previous four. Denver controlled the Clippers throughout in a 134-115 victory, which eliminated Los Angeles from playoff contention and kept Denver in the hunt for a postseason berth in a tight Western Conference with two regular-season games remaining.
“We’re playing get-it-done basketball . ... We’re finding ways to get the job done,” coach Michael Malone said.
The Nuggets’ victory moved them back even record-wise (4535) with eighth-place Minnesota, which was off Saturday and holds the 2-1 head-to-head tiebreaker over Denver entering Wednesday’s regular-season finale in Minneapolis.
Plenty more shifting could have taken place later Saturday, but seventh-place Oklahoma City (46-34) beat Houston, sixth-place San Antonio (46-34) beat Portland and fifth-place New Orleans (4634) defeated Golden State.
Denver, now riding its longest winning streak of the season at the most ideal time, won every quarter Saturday to tie its fifth-
highest point total of the season. The Nuggets put up their secondhighest field-goal percentage (.624), tied for their fourth-most assists (36) and committed just eight turnovers.
Barton’s 31 points, his secondhighest total of the season, included 5-of-9 shooting from 3-point distance. Nikola Jokic compiled his ninth triple-double of the season with 23 points (9-of-14 shooting), 11 rebounds and 11 assists — less than 48 hours after uncharacteristic 6-of-20 shooting from the floor in Thursday’s win against Minnesota.
Barton’s enthusiastically solicited 3-pointer ignited a 12-3 run to extend Denver’s lead to 93-74 at the 3:09 mark of the third quarter. But unlike the last time they built a 19-point advantage and then collapsed in a home loss to the Clippers, the Nuggets withstood any mini-spurt and then pushed it to 20 points when Paul Millsap hit a free throw to make the score 125105 with 3:58 remaining.
“We knew what we had to do this time,” Barton said. “We knew what was at stake. We couldn’t let that happen again with our season on the line. We weren’t going to go out like that.”
The Nuggets are getting it done at the season’s most crucial point, a sign of maturity gained throughout the past week and the season as a whole. And Barton’s play over his three games against the Clippers illustrates that growth.
The last time Denver faced the Clippers at the Staples Center in mid-january, Barton lost the ball out of bounds with his team down two points in the final seconds.
After his team blew that 19point lead at home in late February, the Nuggets’ most candid public speaker was lost for words for the first time all season.
But Barton’s performance Saturday helped deliver a knockout blow on the Clippers’ season — while keeping his team in the playoff hunt with two games left.
“I’m real hard on myself,” Barton said. “So those moments I think about and try to grow and get better from. And I don’t forget them. So when I get an opportunity to right those wrongs, I’m locked in on it. …
“That’s playing in my head, and I know I can’t let it happen again. That’s a part of sports and a part of life, so I like it.”